Doctor Who: Tribal
by Revfew
Summary: The world of Knave-rock is ruled by the High Priests, who serve balls of red flame that dart across the sky. The lower class feel persecuted, and plan a coup. The Doctor finds himself and K9 stuck in the middle, while knowing nothing is correct...
1. Chapter 1

In the Courtyard of the Flame, Nerok and Ardok walked in calm worship. The two brothers bound by faith were not too dissimilar, both bald and both with ratty beards that seemed to dip down under their chins to the bottom of their stubby necks. Nerok wore simple leather straps, which had knotted bootlaces holding things together. Ardok was one of the High Priests, and so wore hard, durable straps of pure gold that were adorned with possibly-fake jewels. He wore only the finest leather sandals, whereas Nerok wore simple, compact canvas slippers. They shared drastically different ideals- Nerok was a man with a heart of death, a man willing to wage war should any time come. Ardok however was a man who believed in peace, and love, perhaps the only man of his kind left.

Today, instead of the usual rampant discussions on neurological philosophy and diabolical deities, they explored their self-spoken indomitable opinions on their leader, Fyrok, the highest of High Priests, and not one to abstain from the rivers of controversy. He was incompetent and rash in the eye of Ardok, for his war-mongering soul and whispers contrasted with the peaceful spirit that ran through Ardok. To Nerok, however, he was one of the almighty highest Gods, the Deum Immortalem for his hating life.

"I'm sorry, Nerok, but I disagree! Fyrok is simply not good enough to sustain our lifestyles, no matter how calm nor lucrative they be, for another year!"

Nerok, ever the slimy one, had a moment of both scoffing and choking.

"Ardok, please. You of all people should not talk of leadership! And besides, who do you possess that could possibly rival Fyrok?!"

Ardok was just about to pop in with a definitive return to jungle politics when a stranger made himself known, standing with something that resembled a blocky, purple dog.

"Oh, hello! Sorry, just sort of...well, arrived and thought I'd drop in." He wore a bowtie, straight as could be, and had the hair of an adolescent ruffian.

"Who are you, stranger?"

"They call me the Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor, and I hope to keep it that way."

Out of the blue, an orange orb span across the heavens like a glob of spit. This was sacred to the tribe, but it caught the Doctor off guard. He ran as close to the edge of the courtyard as possible, squinting as the orb vanished.

"Ok...now we're in trouble."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

Nerok dragged a protesting Doctor inside the Temple of Times, into the order of High Priests. There were four thrones. One sat at the top, whereas the rest tiered off into their own level. Only one was resided in, the second-to-top one, by a skinny man with bushy hair.

"What is this?!"

"This man appeared outside, and does not speak the truths of his origin!"

"Yes I did! I came here for no reason and for good reason I have to stay now if you'll excuse me, I have to bring my dog for a walk. Coming K9?"

He tried to move, but unable to leave he sighed.

"What is your name?"

"Boris Becker."

"Tell the truth, or you shall die."

"Alright, I'm the Doctor. Not a devil or a goblin or anything, just a man with the urge to help. That's all."

This man smiled, and stood up.

"I am Klirok."

"Yes, I seemed to notice all your names end in 'Ok'. Is that a thing or?"

"It is a sacred tradition to celebrate Jirok, lord of the skies!"

The Doctor smiled with recognition.

"Oh I see! Like calling your son Moses or your daughter Mary."

"I do not know what you reference, Doctor."

"Neither do I sometimes. Now, about the great ball of fire I just saw."

Klirok kissed his hands and pointed them to the skies.

"We know that to be the son of Jirok, Odisok. He shoots across the heavens to bring us good and pure thoughts and prayers."

"And does this planet have a name?"

"Knave-rock, as dictated in the now, unfortunately, lost scriptures. They were so holy, so full of knowledge."

"What happened to them?"

"One of our past leaders, Plinrok, destroyed them and declared us a new, everlasting wave of colourful praise and ideas. Ever since, we have strove ourselves to finding any fragments of them."

"Sounds rather dull and pointless but good on you for trying."

Another man, in golden wear, rushed in.

"Klirok, the return is commencing!"

They rushed outside as another ball of red shot across the sky, albeit at a much more vertical angle.

"What's happening?"

"Jirok returns to his father."

"But that's...that's not what I saw before. That's not the same ball of fire!"

"Yes, yes it is. Now come along, we must introduce you to Fyrok. You've met Ardok and Quillok."

The one called Quillok interrupted them.

"Sorry, no one's allowed to see Fyrok right now. He's feeling ill."

"Well, I'm a Doctor. Let me look at-"

"A what?"

"A doctor. I'm a doctor, I'm _the _Doctor."

"What is a doctor?"

"Someone who makes things better or worse for the good of all the universe."

"Surely then, you do not help?"

"Never said I did. Then again, never said I didn't either."

Quillok sighed.

"I'll ask Fyrok."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

Nerok was among his people, the simple people in the eyes of the priests, in the jungle camp they lived in.

"My friends, tonight shall be the night! I shall swap my own being for my brother! I shall steal his identity, as he and his friends have stolen our lives!"

They all raised their hands in the air and clapped, twice every two seconds. Nerok sneered, and raised his fist in the air both triumphantly and awkwardly.

"For my people! By my people! To my people! With my people! Now my people!"

They repeated his words, line by line, with irritating zeal.

"Tonight! We! Will! Be! Reborn!" he screeched, scaring away birds and other small animals. The people crowded around him and tossed him in the air with the happy but possibly miscalculated sense of victory.

Tonight was their time to become the masters.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor was itching to get out to where the orb had shot.

"Out of the question."

"I don't care about questions, I _break _questions, _I am _questions. And from where I'm standing, I'm pretty firmly rooted into myself."

"Yes, but can a question truly question itself?"

A slightly chubby man walked in, wearing much more...shinier gold.

"Only when there's an answer."

"Ha. I like this stranger. I am Fyrok."

"I'm the Doctor."

"Ah, I know that name."

"Really? Because I did my best to wipe it out."

"You wiped out a word?"

"Not all words are immortal. But I guess one is. God. Y'know? Some people use it to describe their friends, other use it to describe cult leaders. You use it to describe red balls. But it always comes to mean the same thing."

"Which is?"

"An empty promise."

Fyrok sighed.

"Different opinions. Pah, we ephemeral beings disagree too much. Not that we should be sheep."

He sat down on his throne.

"Y'see, one thing I don't understand is why you haven't investigated yet. I mean, usually people set up shrines or statues to their gods. But you lot, you don't seem to care. You're happy for a flame to fly."

"Yes, but that flame holds our love. And that is enough for me, for us, for everyone with interest in believing. It's better than any shrine!"

The Doctor sighed.

"Like trying to wade through treacle, you lot are. I'm going to go there by myself, by the way."

Ardok hopped over.

"I'll go too, Doctor."

"You sure? Because there could be anything there. Dragon! Beings made of smoke or fire, maybe even a giant fire-breathing duck from Pluto but naturally they're all in hibernation right now I'm going off topic aren't I?"

Ardok nodded.

"Good, need a bit of self-diversity now and again."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

Nerok crept around the residence of Ardok, ambushing his brother and then putting on his clothes. He placed his old ones on Ardok and laughed, walking towards the other Priests.

He entered their hall, and was greeted by Klirok.

"My dear Ardok, you seem rough. Are you ok?"

"What? Oh, oh yes. Quite alright, thank you Klirok."

"I thought you had gone with the Doctor?"

"Oh, no. He left already. Brought that dog thing with him."

Klirok nodded, and Nerok took his brother's place.

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

The Doctor found who he thought was an unconscious Nerok. He took a small bottle labelled "Saborian smelling salts" from his pocket and waved them under the man's nose.

"He's tricked them!"

The Doctor looked at K9, then back at the delirious man.

"Tricked who, Nerok?"

"I'm Ardok! Nerok switched our clothes, now he's disguised himself as me! He wants to bring the people into power!"

"K9, do a data sc-"

"Data scan already in progress, master."

"Good dog."

"Data scan complete. Subject is known as Ardok."

The Doctor helped Ardok to his feet.

"Sorry, couldn't be too sure."

"No, it's alright. I would do the same with you."

"So you ready to get out into the open?"

"More than ever."

The Doctor smiled, and they sprinted out.

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

The jungle underfoot was damp and mushy. Ardok didn't enjoy his surroundings, for personal reasons. As a child he'd been adventuring with Nerok, who had uncharacteristically (or at least at the time) gone home without him. He remembered the darkness, and the strange noises. He just...just couldn't forget it. The feeling that he was going to die.

"So, uh, seen any good telly recently?"

"Telly?"

"Beyond your time, I suppose. Or space. Or both, who knows. Look at me, speculating!"

Ardok sighed.

"You alright?"

"Ye...bu...no. This place brings back memories. Bad ones. I won't bog you down."

"Try me."

"Well, I always remember the feeling of everything being over. I suppose it's because we've had the tradition of being afraid of death passed down. We're taught to laugh at life and cry at death."

"So, you're scared of death?"

Ardok nodded. The Doctor stopped walking and looked him in the eye.

"Y'know Ardok, there really is nothing wrong with dying. Life is all about death, when you think about it. Every day, every minute, we're dying. And we'll never stop it. I've seen people, beings who thought they could live forever, beings who decided life flowed around them, and death never touched them. And you know what? They all died. Every last one. Each of them met their grave and never turned back. So, don't be afraid of dying. Be afraid of trying to live without acknowledging death."

"You seem to know a lot about death."

"Well, once you've been through it so many times it kinda becomes boring."

They kept on creeping through the jungle, hearing what sounding like monkeys on drugs playing the tuba in the tip-top trees. The Doctor kept making sure K9 was keeping up, cursing his decision to bring him along under his breath.

"What's going to be waiting for us?"

"I dunno. I have a plan though, if it's hostile."

"Which is?"

"The time-honoured method of bunging a rock at it."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

Nerok was currently alone, or at least until his betrothed Soprok crept up as close as she could without being detected.

"Nerok!" she whispered hoarsely, making sure no one in further proximity could sense her.

"Soprok, what news do you bring?"

"The others are getting restless. They speak of rebellion, and do not trust you."

"Do you?"

"Of course I-"

"And were we not so close, would you?"

"I-"

"No, you would not. I see no point in praise due to friendship. We must be honest."

Soprok was quiet. She had so many things to speak against, but no words with which to phrase them.

"Nerok, the Doctor, the one you told the watch to follow? They have seen him-"

"-okay-"

"-with Ardok."

Nerok sighed.

"No matter. What will be done, it will still be done. Tell the others to be ready. Tomorrow we strike."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

The Doctor began to sniff the air.

"What's wrong?"

"Can't you smell it?"

"Smell what?"

"The smell of space!"

He took out the sonic screwdriver and pointed it around. Once this was done he flicked it open at eye level and made a surprised expression. He then moved towards a clump of bushes, and Ardok followed him quickly.

Through these plants, in a scorched clearing, lay a metal wreck. Pieces of panels lay in a scattered pattern, while trees were scarred beyond belief. There was a cylinder lying sideways into the air, connected by the thinnest strands of wires and leaned against a mighty root.

"It's a spacecraft! Bit primitive, but a spacecraft nonetheless. Must've crashed a while ago."

He looked inside and found skeletons.

"Very while ago. This is what's been causing the second ball." he informed Ardok, pointing at the cylinder.

"How?"

"It's an emergency flare. Every so often it fires. Must be a high-tech one. You hear rumours about ones that work as long as connection is maintained with the ship. Like this one."

"So we've been worshipping a machine?!"

"No. No, you're worshipping something else. And that's not good at all. Because we still don't know what's sending the first ball out."

As if by utterance, a chest-high metal box wheeled into view. K9 shot at it, but the lasers reflected back. The box unveiled two pincers, and seemed to point behind it.

"Speak of the Devil." The Doctor popped, straightening his bowtie and walking towards the distance.


	3. Chapter 3

After two hours walking, the Doctor and Ardok finally found themselves at the end of their journey. There was an large mound of dirt, covering something by the look of it. The Doctor walked towards it and wiped away some of the dirt.

"What is it?"

"Metal. But sticky, but metal. More like plastic actually, although in some universes they're the same thing."

There was a hum.

"Oh, well, whatever you are you clearly love a tune. Or at least humming. Well, how about this one: Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what planetary system you belong to."

The hum began to melt into words.

"Who. _Are_. You?"

"Oh, it speaks. Love it when they do that. I'm the Doctor and this is Ardok. Question is, who are you?"

"The. _Emperor. _Scout."

"Which is?"

"_The. _Man. In. _Charge._"

The Doctor looked grim.

"So, you're some kind of ostracised tech. The forgotten kingpin, the scout who never came in from the freezing cold?"

"Incorrect. I. _Am. _God. The. Creator. Of. _All._"

The Doctor shared a glance with Ardok.

"Oh, well, if that's the case...Ardok, you said you were scared when you got lost here before, right?"

"No. That was Nerok."

"No, you said that Nerok abandoned you."

"Did I...oh, yes. You're right!"

The Doctor looked back at the Emperor Scout.

"What have you done?!"

"I. _Have. _Perfected. _The. _Lives. Of. These. _People._"

"How?!"

"By. _Alternating. _Their. _Existence._"

"You...oh, you did. Oh, this is bad. And wrong!"

He paced back and forth.

"What's wrong, Doctor?"

"Everything!" he blurted emphatically, gesturing with his hands, "everything is wrong! Your lives, your roles. Everything!"

"What do you mean?"

"Your order, the higher order."

"The priests."

"Aren't actually the higher order."

"How-"

"The Emperor Scout. It's probably been malfunctioning for a while, going insane. It's been playing God, the only way it knows how."

"Which is?"

"By swapping things around. Ardok, I'm gonna break things gently...you, and the priests. You're actually the lower class, the peasants. And vice versa. The Emperor Scout obviously did it as an experiment. But what's the ball about?"

"It. _Is. _Surveillance."

"Of course! It's like an eye, checking that everything's going swimmingly."

"So...so I am not me?!"

"No, you are. No matter how much a scout tries to warp your lives, you are always who you set out to be. Which begs the question; what _are _you? Scouting can be vague."

"I. _Was. _Brought. To. _Scout. _For. The. _Sontaran. _War. I. Was. _Designated. _As. The. Tip. Of. The. _Spearhead._"

"Then what?"

"A. _Rutan. _Attack. Damaged. _Me. _And. Dragged. Me. _Down. _Here."

"And so you were damaged, driven mental like a principal on a Monday morning."

"My. _Kingdom. _Will. Not. _Die. _Not. Now. Not. In. _Eternity._"

"It will. Trust me it will. I've met enough villains to know otherwise. No one wins, and everyone loses. Even the good ones. But for them it's a good loss. You see, no matter how hard you try to falsely rule, to _control _these innocent people, you will lose and so will they. But, oh, they will be _so much more_!"

He looked at K9, gestured and then got ready to run. K9 shot at the scout, and not waiting the Doctor picked his computer up. Ardok stayed behind.

"Come on!" The Doctor yelled.

"No! You run!"

The Doctor bolted away hesitantly. Ardok grabbed the smaller robot.

"You made me live a fake life of luxury while my brother lived in squalor he didn't deserve! You convinced us we were something else! You led us on for so long, and now, _now _I'll show you our appreciation!"

He thrust down the robot, not anticipating the colossal explosion. The Doctor looked back and sighed in regret as the remains of the scout and Ardok burnt in the flames.

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

There was full spread anarchy. The lower ones ransacked every dwelling they found, pushed everyone on the ground angrily. Nerok stood proud amongst the chaos like an inexperienced dictator, his foot rested on Klirok's unconscious head. Soprok sidled up next to him, and sighed.

"We did all this, Nerok."

"We did, Soprok."

She then tried to strangle him, but he was prepared. He grabbed her by the neck and threw her down.

"Did you think I was so blind?! I've known about your little flings forever!"

"Nerok, stop!"

The Doctor ran in, K9 in tow. The 'dog' had a long tube stuck on it.

"Ah, Doctor. I trust you found him."

"Yes. Nerok...he's dead. He sacrificed his life for the truth."

"WHAT?!"

"The truth that you all know deep-down, but deny because you know how terrible it is. K9?"

K9 whirred, and emanated the Emperor Scout's confession through the cylinder. There was a silence like no other, which included nervous glances and raised eyebrows.

"And this...this is true?"

"Regrettably yes. I'm sorry, Nerok. You should have been here without this violence."

Out of the blue shot a red orb. The Doctor shot a glance around, and saw the crashed ship somehow moving on four small robotic legs.

"Of course! It must have been shot down by the same attack."

"I. Will. _Not. _Allow. My. _Creation._ To. Die!"

Nerok stepped out, carrying a rock that had been used to knock out Klirok.

"You killed my brother! You forced us to sleep in the dirt! I tell you now: my vengeance knows no bounds!"

He ran and smashed the rock into the ship. Both crackled with electricity, with both falling lifeless to the floor. The threat was gone. Fyrok turned to the Doctor.

"Leave. Please. If you had not interfered, our lives would not have been taken."

Taken aback, the Doctor left with K9. The TARDIS dematerialised, into the unknown.

Quillok turned to Fyrok.

"He did save us."

"Yes. And I suppose every god needs a demon."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

Maxine Vaughn walked through her flat, whistling a downbeat RnB track to herself while carrying a short pile of letters.

"Bill, bill, _big _bill, letter from your aunt Moira, and a leaflet about clothes. Nothing, basically!" she called to Gabriel, her fiancée.

"Is there ever anything?!" he called back. She laughed, and tossed the envelopes on the table.

"I've got to get to work!"

"See you later!"

"You better!"

She went outside and got into her car, starting it up just as quickly.

She arrived at UNIT HQ, and walked in while giving the necessary security clearances. Walking into her lab, she found the specimen still chained up. Her assistant, Gradhem, was taking notes.

"Any changes?"

"Not one. Can still only say one thing."

"Course it can. Only thing it knows."

It began to stir, saying one word.

"Ex...ter...min...ate..."

_**To be continued...**_


End file.
